Chandler Unified School District Governing Board member Kurt Rohrs said he noticed a heavy Career and Technical Education (CTE) focus at last month’s Innovation Fair.
“It really seems to be the new thing in education and the direction that we’re going,” Rohrs said at the Feb. 26 Governing Board meeting.
CUSD is expanding its CTE efforts with pilot programs to include students in elementary and junior high schools.
The district is not planning to have young students lock into a career at those early ages.
“The idea is to build a foundation in elementary so then when they move to junior high school, they can enter the career exploration path, and then when they’re in high school, they’re prepared to select courses to have a clear pathway that will lead them into whatever their interest is, their career goals,” said Patty Fernandez, the district’s assistant director of curriculum and instruction.
CUSD is running a pilot program for elementary grades at three schools this year – Chandler Traditional Academy Freedom, Conley and Jacobson.
Fernandez said the district hopes to add more elementary schools next year, and then have it available at all elementary schools by the 2026-27 school year.
At the elementary school level, the CTE pilot program introduces the concept of employment to students.
“It’s problem solving, communication skills, how to work as a team, how to express your ideas,” Fernandez said. “How do you come to consensus when you’re trying to create a project? So, skills that are going to serve them in anything they decided to do.”
When the students reach the middle school level, they would be introduced to different types of careers to see if there are any they are interested in and wish to pursue.
“There’s more exploration,” Fernandez said. “So, they get to focus on certain careers at the junior high level. Elementary is more becoming aware that there are jobs out there. What kind of jobs? What are some of the skills that you need to do certain jobs.”
She said they also introduce basic money skills in the elementary school program.
“How do you use money, like needs, wants and how do you create a budget, when do you invest,” she said.
All of this is to help students have a good idea which career they’d like to pursue by the time they reach high school.
CUSD offers nearly two dozen CTE classes that cover a variety of fields, some that will require college and others that will not. The newest is scheduled to start in the fall and focuses on semiconductors. It’s the first semiconductor CTE course at the high school level in the nation.
Other courses include automotive technologies, culinary arts, cyber security, drone operation, game design, marketing and sports medicine.
In addition to the 22 courses CUSD offers, it is also affiliated with the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT), which offers hands-on learning in more than 50 career training programs.
Fernandez said they are learning what works during these pilot programs before they expand it to the rest of the district.
“It is a great opportunity for us to engage our students in real world learning experiences and start preparing them for their future,” she said.